Natural Ingredients to Try On Your Hair

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How many of you have been on-board with the all-natural-organic ingredients trend for your hair care products? No, we can’t see your hand raised but we’ll take an educated guess and say it was ALL of you. Whether it’s a natural shampoo, natural leave-in conditioner or organic hair gel, you spend at least 10 – 15 minutes in the hair care aisle reading product labels for every product you pick up.

Natural ingredients like water, coconut oil, shea butter and argan oil are the first to catch your eyes. They’re used in almost all natural hair care products. Many of you know their benefits, which ingredient to use for each step of your hair care regimen and which ones to use more frequently than others. But what about those natural ingredients you’re not familiar with? What are the benefits? Where do they come from? And why should you introduce your hair to them? Well we’re glad you asked!

There have been a number of natural ingredients that have surfaced as new, exotic and unconventional that the kinky coily girl should try! Natural ingredients like aloe vera, baobab oil, honey and black castor oil are being added to hair care products across countless brands. They sound exotic, some smell heavenly, while others have a more shall we say, unique scent *cough* black castor oil *cough*.

However, the benefits of these exotic ingredients for your natural hair are what really takes the cake. To satisfy your curiosity and encourage the adventurous and spontaneous side of you, we took the liberty of providing some natural ingredient 101 for each of these exotic and unconventional ingredients.

Aloe Vera

It is originally found in Somalia and Sudan. Aloe vera is a pretty recognizable plant that some of our grandmother’s sat in big pots on their front porches when we were kids. It is often applied topically to burns or cuts due to its natural healing and restorative benefits. But it also has countless benefits for natural hair! Aloe vera promotes shine and moisture, prevents hair loss and dandruff. It can also be used as a pre-poo, shampoo, conditioner or styling gel. Some people even use it as a detangling or growth treatment.

For those kitchenticians, you can buy the aloe leaf from your local grocery store and pull the gel from it yourself. You can check out our Aloe & Coconut Water Pre-Shampoo to detangle and condition as the first step in your wash day. Pairing coconut water with aloe vera adds another layer of moisture which makes the detangling process actually enjoyable! You can also check out @1lexishair using our pre-poo as a gel here.

Baobab Oil

Say it with us slowly, “Bae-Oh-Bab,” there you go! Baobab oil is a fruit-derived oil from the unique and exotic-looking baobab tree. They are found primarily in Madagascar. This natural ingredient adds shine, elasticity and suppleness to your natural hair. It can also eliminate dandruff and reduce environmental damage to hair. The fatty acids found in baobab oil deeply penetrate the hair follicle to its core.

It’s important to use this oil sparingly as too much can lead to frizzy, limp hair. You can add a few drops to your leave-in conditioner. You can also try our Coconut Oil & Baobab Oil Leave-In Cream for lasting moisture and protection against breakage. This formula leaves hair stronger and more manageable for that new 5-step braid-up hair tutorial you’ve been dying to try.

Honey

Did anyone else hear the intro to Mariah Carey’s “Honey” playing when they got to this section? No? Just us? What about Erykah Badu’s “Honey?” Still a no? Ok, let’s move on. You can use it as a fragrant and delicious sweetener in your hot cup of tea. Even as a home remedy to treat an annoying cough. Honey is liquid gold to all of our needs, including our hair’s.

This unconventional natural ingredient for hair treats dandruff, conditions and moisturizes dry hair. It also cleanses hair, removing unwanted impurities. For all these reasons and more we added honey to our Honey & Coconut Oil Shampoo and our Coconut Milk & Honey Leave-In Conditioner. If you add these products to the cleansing and moisturizing steps of your natural hair care regimen, it will leave your hair softer, shinier and naturally defined.

Black Castor Oil

Strong, pungent but highly sought after, Jamaican black castor oil has become a staple natural ingredient for numerous natural hair care lines. It has gained popularity primarily for its hair growth benefits, but black castor oil also treats dandruff and moisturizes your hair. The one benefit that stuck out the most for us is that black castor oil can be used on all hair types and textures. No matter if your hair is 4c or 3a, black castor oil can be used to moisturize, strengthen and grow any hair type. We heard through the grapevine that African Pride has a black castor oil product line of their own coming out soon. *Shhhhh*! You didn’t hear it from us though. And by the way, it really smells great!

Now that you’ve learned more about a few exotic and unconventional natural ingredients, which one intrigued you the most? Will you try them all? You said you’ve already filled up your shopping cart with our products?! That’s what we LOVE to hear! Shaking things up a bit from time to time provides growth for not only your hair, but for you. Trying new things can help you overcome fears, stimulate creativity and just make you a better-rounded person. Because when you’re doing good, your hair does even better!